I am directed by our Guardian to thank you for your letter of June 5th.

He learns with extreme pleasure and satisfaction of your gathering at a meeting at which all the dear friends of Vienna together with our good friend Mr. Adam Benke of Leipzig were present. And he deeply appreciates your loving message of greeting above your individual signatures. Such messages are always a source of pleasure to him, but he is especially glad to see the newly established centre in Vienna so full of enthusiasm, of love and of devotion to the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh. He prays from the bottom of his heart that our precious Master may fill your souls with His beautiful spirit and may help and guide you to serve His Cause and humanity.

He is so glad to know that Mr. Benke is going to Sofia to help Miss Jack, and he trusts that he will be of very great help to her.

With the assurance of Shoghi Effendi’s loving greetings to you all,…

[From the Guardian:]

My dear and precious co-workers:

I was so pleased to hear from you and to learn of your steadfast loyalty to the Cause. The friends in Vienna are ever in my thoughts and heart and I will continue to supplicate for them the Master’s richest blessings.

Your true brother, Shoghi

Letter of 23 December 1931

23 December 1931

Dear Dr. Mühlschlegel:

Shoghi Effendi wishes me to drop you these few lines to inform you that few days ago he sent to your address c/o Mrs. Schwarz a copy of his translation of the Íqán which has just come out. He hopes that it will help you in revising your translation into German which you have already made. This is in fulfilment of the promise he made last year to send you a copy of his English translation when out of the press.

Shoghi Effendi has, through various channels, been hearing of the wonderful services you are rendering to the Cause. He sincerely trusts that the young and educated Bahá’ís, who have their spiritual faculties fully developed, and who as a consequence appreciate the significance of Bahá’u’lláh’s mission in the development of the world, will with one accord, arise and establish the Kingdom of God upon the earth. The world around us is in a pitiable condition and its ills seem daily to increase. It is for us, we Bahá’í youths, who have been entrusted with this divine mission, to do our utmost and rest only when the task has been carried to its successful conclusion.

In his moments of prayer and meditation at the Shrines Shoghi Effendi will think of you and ask for you divine guidance and help….

Letter of 24 February 1932

24 February 1932

Dear Dr. Mühlschlegel:

Shoghi Effendi wishes me to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated Feb. 13th, 1932. He was very glad to know that you have recovered your health and can resume your work as well as services to the Cause. We surely cannot afford seeing the competent servants of the Faith handicapped by their health. They are too few to be spared so easily.

Shoghi Effendi was very glad to know that the new edition of the Íqán has reached you safely and that you are going to use it in going over your translation into German. He is surely very sorry that not knowing Persian you cannot go to the very original. He sincerely hopes that before long we will have some of the younger members of the German Bahá’ís who would make translation their life-work, and with that object in mind make a thorough study of Persian and Arabic. They would surely be rendering a wonderful service to their nation as well as to the Faith as a whole.

In closing may I assure you of Shoghi Effendi’s prayers and best wishes. He will always be waiting to hear of the wonderful progress the Faith is making in Germany and of the role you are playing in it….

[From the Guardian:]

Dear co-worker:

I wish to add a few words in person and assure you of my keen and heartfelt appreciation of your high and painstaking endeavours for the spread and consolidation of the Faith in that land. The German believers have undergone tests of unprecedented severity. They have weathered the storm in a marvellous spirit and with fine and praiseworthy determination. These tests were God-sent, and will serve to deepen the roots of the Faith in that promising country. Wishing you success in your devoted labours and assuring you of my prayers in your behalf.

Your true brother, Shoghi

Letter of 30 March 1932

30 March 1932

Dear Bahá’í brothers and sisters:

Shoghi Effendi wishes me to acknowledge the receipt of your letter written at the occasion of the Naw-Rúz feast and conveying the greetings of the season. He wants me to reciprocate these feelings and express his hope that during this new year, which has just begun, the Cause may make a progress in Germany unsurpassed in the history of the Cause in that land.

The world as a whole, but especially the people of that continent of Europe, is suffering great calamities as a result of wars, social dissatisfaction, fear, hatred and jealousies. And these forces of darkness are leading humanity to absolute destruction. This state of affairs shall continue until the world is awakened to the importance of the Message of Bahá’u’lláh — a Message especially sent by God to heal human ills in this present day.

Should we not, we who have been entrusted with this divine Cause, arise and with one accord proclaim the Word of God throughout the world? Should we leave humanity writhe in its suffering and prove ourselves untrue to the covenant made with the Master — the covenant, that we will to the last moment of our life strive to save God’s people from complete destruction?

In his moments of prayer Shoghi Effendi will think of you all and ask God to guide your steps and re-enforce your efforts in proclaiming His divine message through the length and breadth of that vast continent. He read your circular letter with deep interest; may the one you will write next Naw-Rúz have still more inspiring news of the progress of the Cause to share with the friends throughout the world….

[From the Guardian:]

Dear co-workers:

I wish to add a few words in person, and assure you again of my deep affection and deep interest in your activities. Your loyalty and perseverance, in the face of formidable tests, are indeed worthy of the highest praise. May the Beloved continue to guide and bless your high endeavours, and enable each one of you to render great and memorable services to His Cause,

Your true brother, Shoghi

Letter of 19 May 1932

19 May 1932

Dear Dr. Mühlschlegel:

Some time ago I received a letter from you in Persian. So happy I was to see you study that language that I showed your letter to Shoghi Effendi. He thereupon gave me the Íqán and also a booklet containing the Hidden Words, the Seven Valleys and some Odes of Bahá’u’lláh to send to you. Being very busy I did not accompany them with a letter. I sincerely hope you have received them and are trying to read them. In any case, if you have received them please drop me a few lines to that effect….

Letter of 10 September 1932

10 September 1932

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

Shoghi Effendi wishes me to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated August 20th, 1932 and to extend to you all the expression of his heartfelt appreciation and thanks.

The news of your successful “Sommerwoche” greatly comforted his aching heart. He hopes that such important gatherings will serve to deepen the understanding of the friends and inspire them with renewed faith and courage to consolidate the work already inaugurated through the precious efforts of our German friends.

Shoghi Effendi wishes you to persevere in your services and be confident in God’s unfailing help. The Master has given us the assurance that He will bless our efforts and will not leave us alone and unaided.

With the renewed assurance of Shoghi Effendi’s best wishes and of his fervent prayers on behalf of every one of you….

[From the Guardian:]

Dear co-workers:

I cannot refrain from adding a few words in person as a token of my admiration for the manner in which you are conducting your activities for the spread of the Cause. You are often in my thoughts and are the object of my fervent and loving prayers. The work you perform in summer should be extended, its influence must spread, its attendance increase, and its foundations be strengthened. May the Beloved guide and sustain your high endeavours,

Your true brother, Shoghi

Letter of 14 September 1932

14 September 1932

Dear Dr. Mühlschlegel:

I am in receipt of your letter dated September 4th 1932. Regarding your question on the subject of holding the usual festivals during this year when we are mourning the loss of the Greatest Holy Leaf; inasmuch as Shoghi Effendi has not yet returned from his summer vacations I cannot put your question to him and answer you immediately. The friends in America, however, who were confronted with the same problem, put to him the same question by telegram. I could, therefore, do no better than send you a copy of Shoghi Effendi’s answer. I believe it will give you the necessary guidance in solving your problem. His cable runs as follows:

Bahá’í New York festive anniversaries should be suspended administrative gatherings including nineteen day feasts should be held with utmost simplicity….

Letter of 30 November 1932

30 November 1932

Dear Bahá’í Brothers and Sisters:

Shoghi Effendi wishes me to acknowledge the receipt of your joint letter dated November 12th 1932 written on the occasion of the birthday of Bahá’u’lláh.

We should feel deeply gratified and thankful to God that at a time when all humanity seems to be struggling in despair we can come together and, with great assurance, feast and be merry over the dawn of a new day; that in the darkness which envelops the world we see the approach of a new light and the breaking of a new era. This is a true blessing and a bounty from God to those who believe in Him and accept His Revelation.

To express our deep appreciation for this gift bestowed by God we should arise and spread this message of hope to the suffering humanity around us. Such is the nature of this gift that the more we give from it to others the greater will be our remaining share. For what pleasure can compare the pleasure of bringing joy and hope to other hearts. The more we make others happy the greater will be our own happiness and the deeper our sense of having served humanity.

In his moments of prayer at the blessed Shrines, Shoghi Effendi will think of you all and ask God to guide and assist you in spreading His message throughout that land and the neighbouring countries. He trusts that, through your persistent efforts, innumerable souls will be guided to see the Truth and flock to its support….

[From the Guardian:]

Dear co-workers:

Your joint and welcome message brought strength and comfort to my sorrow-stricken heart. The burden of my sadness and grief has been considerably alleviated. I value the sentiments you have expressed. Each one of you is near and dear to my heart. I will continue to pray for you all, that the Beloved may protect, guide and bless you in your constant efforts for the spread of this mighty and precious Cause,

Your true brother, Shoghi

Letter of 3 May 1933

3 May 1933

Dear Bahá’í Brothers and Sisters:

The Guardian wishes me to thank you for your kind words of April 23, 1933, expressing the greetings of the season.

He is deeply gratified to learn that when the friends assemble at such gatherings, and remember the occasion they are celebrating, they renew their determination to serve and ask God to shower upon them His infinite blessings and help them in the realization of their noble aim.

The more society is threatened by wars, and the more humanity is seen desperate before the problems that confront it, the more should the Bahá’ís take courage and redouble their energy in diffusing the teachings. For it is only through such divine precepts that the world can obtain peace and tranquility, and become an environment within which man can spiritually progress and attain his noble destiny.

In his moments of prayer at the Blessed Shrines the Guardian will think of you all and ask God to guide and aid you in the service of His Faith. May through the light that emerges from your gatherings all the people of those regions receive the light of God and find their way towards eternal salvation….

[From the Guardian:]

May the Beloved guide your steps, cheer your hearts, enable you to promote far and wide the interests of our beloved Faith and aid you to consolidate its rising institutions,

Your true and affectionate brother, Shoghi

Letter of 16 May 1933

16 May 1933

Dear Dr. Mühlschlegel:

The Guardian … does sincerely hope that the reports we receive here about the sentiments rampant in Germany are untrue to fact, that it is a regeneration of the people rather than a retrogression towards a dead past. Because whatever we say of Germany, we have to admit that its people are endowed with a spiritual vitality quite superior to many other races. Being in the heart of that populated continent and being inspired by such a strong religious spirit, Germany can easily achieve a wonderful task in regenerating the world. The eyes of the world are surely centered around it expecting to see what it will do.

Yet we Bahá’ís should remember that we stand above politics. That that field does not interest us; that we attribute importance to things of the spirit, that we await salvation to come from the Faith that burns in our hearts.

In his moments of prayer and meditation at the Blessed Shrines, the Guardian will think of you and the other friends in Germany and ask God to guide you and assist you in playing your important rôle of spiritualizing the whole world — so immersed at present in material pursuits and interests….

[From the Guardian:]

Dear and precious co-worker:

I was so pleased to receive your letter. I long to hear more fully and more frequently from you. You are a tower of … and a pillar of His Faith in that land. Germany has a glorious future under the banner of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. Its mission is to champion the cause of God in Europe and establish it firmly in the heart of that continent. The tests and trials which have beset the Faith in that land were necessary and providential. It is for the German believers, who have weathered the storm, to arise and promote the Cause, to proclaim the non-political character of their Faith, to establish its nascent institutions and prove by their words and acts their freedom from every taint of particularism and prejudice. May the Almighty guide their steps, sustain them in their efforts and bless their activities.

Shoghi

Letter of 14 June 1933

14 June 1933

Dear Dr. Mühlschlegel:

Many thanks for your letter of June 4th 1933. I presented it together with the enclosed report on the Summer school to the Guardian who was very pleased to read them.

He kept the report but wishes me to inform you that as the Bahá’í World Volume five will not be compiled and made ready for the press except after the coming summer, you could write another and fuller report to include the one that will be held this year. There will surely be some further points of interest that could be mentioned; and it is always better to have such reports as up-to-date as possible.

The Guardian hopes that this summer a great step will be taken in developing the School and that you will play an important rôle in that connection.

In case of the need of further correspondence on this or similar subjects please write directly to Shoghi Effendi, it will avoid unnecessary delay.

In closing may I express the Guardian’s prayers and best wishes for the progress of your work in serving the Faith….

Letter of 27 June 1933

27 June 1933

Dear Dr. Mühlschlegel:

Shoghi Effendi wishes me to acknowledge on his behalf the receipt of your letter dated May 11th, 1933, together with the enclosed Program of the Bahá’í meetings held in Stuttgart and Esslingen, all of which he has carefully read and deeply appreciated.

In regard to the transliteration of Oriental names and words into German he wishes me to inform you that the system of transliteration actually in use in the Bahá’í world has been adopted and approved with only slight changes by a general Orientalist Congress representative of world’s greatest orientalists including some outstanding German authorities in various branches of Oriental history and literature. As you see, therefore, it is a highly recommendable system of transliteration and this is why the Guardian is so emphatic about its univeral adoption by the Bahá’ís the world over. Any departure from that system, he strongly feels, may lead to incalculable difficulties and misunderstandings in the future. He would certainly urge you to adopt it yourself and then advise our German friends to do the same in all their official Bahá’í publications and particularly in the forthcoming issues of the “Sonne der Wahrheit” wherein some chapters of the “Dawn-Breakers” are going to be published.

Concerning the date of the anniversary of the Báb’s declaration the Guardian feels that it would be preferable to postpone the consideration of this problem until the Universal House of Justice is established. In the meantime he would advise you to follow the system actually in use in the Bahá’í world, i.e. (year 9.) even in Germany. According to this system the hundredth anniversary of the Declaration of the Faith should be celebrated in May of the year 101, that is when we enter the second Bahá’í century. By year 90 we should not mean that 90 years have elapsed since the declaration of the Báb but that we are in the 9th year. But whether it is preferable to adopt this system or that suggested by you and which, you remark, is in use among Christians and Moslems, the future House of Justice has to decide.

Touching the Bahá’í funeral service the Guardian would like you to know that it is of an extreme simplicity, consisting as it does of a congregational prayer which has not yet been translated into any western language but which Shoghi Effendi is planning to have it translated and circulated among the friends. The friends and relatives of the deceased who are unwilling to attend the service should not be forced to do so.

In closing may I extend to you the loving greetings of the Guardian….

[From the Guardian:]

Dear and valued co-worker:

This is to assure you how glad and gratified I feel to learn that the German believers are taking so active a part in the international activities of the Cause. Their thoroughness, ability, patience and open-mindedness highly qualify them to assume such responsibilities and undertake so great a task. I trust that the letters you will soon be sending to the British High Commissioner for Palestine will be a prelude to the brilliant services you are destined to render to the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.

Your true brother, Shoghi

Letter of 9 August 1933

9 August 1933

Dear Dr. Mühlschlegel:

I am directed by Shoghi Effendi to inform you of the receipt of your letter dated July 13th, 1933, together with the enclosed copy of the petition addressed by the German Bahá’í National Assembly to the British High Commissioner in Jerusalem and the report of the Bahá’í activities in Stuttgart, all of which he has read with great care and deepest interest and for which he has asked me to offer you his heartfelt thanks.

Your petition, though short is, nevertheless, strongly worded and very substantial. It is hoped that it will impress the authorities in Palestine and will enable them to realize the gravity and the urgency of our case.

Assuring you of his best wishes and of his ardent prayers for the success of your work,…

[From the Guardian:]

Dear and prized co-worker:

Your prompt and able response to my request has greatly touched me, and I wish to express again my lovely appreciation and abiding gratitude. I cherish great hopes for your future contributions to the spread and consolidation of the Faith in that land, and will continue to pray for your success from the depths of my heart.

Your true and affectionate brother, Shoghi

Letter of 1 October 1933 (Summer School)

1 October 1933 (Summer School)

Dear Bahá’í co-workers,

The Guardian has just received your beautiful message of Sep. 3rd, 33, written through the kindness of Miss Jack, and he has directed me to thank you all for the success that has attended your summer school classes at Esslingen. The importance and significance of such annual gatherings are immense, since they offer each and every one of you a unique opportunity to come and discuss together the ways and means whereby the Faith can extend and develop throughout Germany. By the collective spirit, the unity and the enthusiasm they create, these meetings serve to strengthen the bonds of amity and cooperation among the friends and to give them a new vision of the Cause, of its imperative needs and requirements in these days of political agitation and strife. The social and political conditions in your land are, indeed, very distressing, and if they remain unchanged for a long time, may hamper the progress of the Faith. It is now that you should work in utmost unity and in the spirit of an unflinching devotion to the ideals and teachings of the Cause.